Mr Subin-Nimit “Golf” Rakwet, 22, was nabbed at about 7:30pm last night in front of the Kasikorn Bank ATM near Bangkok Hospital Phuket in a sting operation.

Police reported that earlier in the day an unnamed informant contacted the suspect, a suspected major pot dealer, to buy 1 kilogramme of improperly cured dry Thai marijuana for a rate of B16,500.

According to the police report, the informant used a mobile phone and Facebook to communicate with Golf, who told the imformant to meet him at the above location.

Upon positively identifying the suspect, an force of officers presented themselves. The suspect initially claimed innocence. However, police were unconvinced and verified that the suspect’s phone log verified communication with their informant.

A subsequent search uncovered a brick of marijuana hidden in a gas can filled with tea.

Police reported that the suspect then volunteered a confession that he had more pot stashed at his residence in Soi Payoon nearby.

The suspect then led police to said room, where they found 10 more bricks of marijuana inside a cabinet. The stash was reported to weigh 9.6 kilogrammes.

In addition they found several more small splastic baggies filled with a small amount of the dried plant flowers.

A digital scale, knife thought to be used to cut the bricked weed, a smoking device and 160 sealable plastic bags were also seized as evidence, as were two codeine pills, a homemade gun, one .22 calibre bullet, an IPhone 5 and Kawasaki Ninja motorbike.

Golf was subsequently charged with “possession of a Category 5 (Ganja) addictive drug with intent to sell without a permit; posession of a Category 2 (Codeine) drug without a permit; and possession of a firearm and ammo without a permit”.

In addition to jail time, the suspect will also likely be forced to undergo drug rehabilitation under the current Thai drug supression policies.

Despite the status quo of Thailand’s outdated, US DEA-backed drug policy, there are no independent, peer-reviewed scientific studies that conclusively prove any of the three species of ganja or cannabis are physicially or chemically addictive, or independently harmful to health of consumers.

However, the psychoactive compounds of the herb, especially of sativa varieties, may overwhelm individuals who are mentally unstable, weak or vulnerable.

Moreover, ganja for recreational or health purposes is still strictly illegal in the kingdom and if caught with it, violators face jail, rehab, fines and/or deportation if a foreign national.